3) Clean, so I don't have to do it over the weekend4) Help Lexi with her talk5) Write a letter to our missionary

From the Camera:

Now accepting applications for the position of: MOM!

From the Heart:

In keeping with our theme, acts of kindness, here is another idea....

Sometimes it might seem like there are too many rules everywhere - at home, at school, in the games we play.

Sometimes it might seem OK to break the rules at school, since your parents aren't there, or because other kids are encouraging your to break them. But rules are actually put in place to keep people safe, and at school, rules are supposed to help you and your classmates learn. It doesn't make you a bad person if you break a rule by accident, but try your hardest to remember and follow all the rules while you're at school.

Benefits

Following the rules while you're at school is important, because it keeps you and your classmates safe! Breaking the rules in your classroom, like being loud during class can be distracting to your classmates. So when you follow the rules, you'll actually be helping your classmates learn.

Step It Up

Don't just follow the rules at school, be a role model to your friends and classmates by encouraging them to obey them too. Be a leader and follow the rules!

RECIPE'S PREPARATION

Combine all ingredients and blend until smooth (about 1 minute) on speed 8.

4.

Pour into the prepared dish and bake for about 15 minutes. Allow to cool completely before cutting into 16 squares.

From the Spirit:

Work and more Work!

Nearly 100 years after the early pioneers entered the valley, a severe economic depression was impacting the world and unemployment was very high. The First Presidency organized a welfare program for the Church.

As he introduced the basic principles of Church Welfare President Heber J. Grant said:

"Our primary purpose was to set up, in so far as it might be possible, a system under which the curse of idleness would be done away with, the evils of a dole abolished, and independence, industry, thrift and self respect be once more established amongst our people. The aim of the Church is to help the people help themselves. Work is to be re-enthroned as the ruling principle of the lives of our Church membership" (in Conference Report, Oct. 1936, 3).

This is taken from a chapter out of the Gospel and the Productive Life Manual and couldn’t be more applicable for today. We are seeing rising numbers of unemployment and to be honest, sometimes it is scary to hear about it all. But the Lord has had a plan for a long time to limit the impact on righteous people. It is to work. Self reliance was never meant to be easy. We get what we put into it and hard work will get us a whole lot more than sitting around!

From the Schmidt's:

Today has been an exciting day. One filled will hopes, dreams, and concerns. This morning Kevin and I woke up early to get to his appointment. When we got to the doctor's office there were a few extra people there just to see Kevin. His procedure lasted from 8:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Talk about a long one! BUT, he has a stimulator in his back and he is down for the weekend. He can't shower or bend. That means, he will most likely miss hearing Lexi speak in church Sunday. The good thing is Kevin feels some improvement in his legs right now AND he only has to wear this thing until Monday. He goes back then to have it removed. THEN.....if all goes well and this works,the group will set up the surgery for the permanent procedure. YES!Curtis wrote us today. His letter to his Dad is below with a few photos too. I will share mine another day.Kevin wants to start a blog or something for Curtis.That will be something Kevin can share photos and snip-it's of letters and Curtis will be able to have it to keep.We will set that up either this weekend or next.Kyle is at a Police Academy graduation right now.His girlfriend graduates today! Go Morgan!We also have Lexi trying to read bits and pieces of things she wants to include in her talk. Lots to do.Danielle just stopped by. She is frustrated because her new jobisn't working with school. Arg!Who does an employer hire you and then force youinto a position that you know will not work with yourschool schedule? THEN, after training you for the position they tell you they will work around your schoolschedule, BUT in reality when they go to schedule youthey tell you they can't work around your school schedule.Why would they do that when you told them all alongyou have school and couldn't take a management positionin the first place? It's like the way airline pilots are sought out in some countries.Did you know some countries require their people to take an aptitude test, and if you score a certain way, you get pigeon holed into certain jobs. That airline pilot that crashed the plane into the Swiss Alps was one such pilot. Look at what that kind of hiring did for those 150 people who lost their lives, not to mentiontheir surviving family members.Pigeon holing people was NEVER a good thing.Some people don't always "fit" the so called ideal mold.I for one think it's wrong. AND we have a verysad example of why this should not be the way things are done.Just because you don't have an aptitude for certain things doesn't mean you can't or won't work hard to develop the traits, qualities, and abilities to do a certain task. It's called developing your talents. Hard work is usually the requirement, but the sweet reward is your new strength or talent and the ability to use that new skill. How cool is that? Funny that this was the exact way the Lord designed our earthly experience to work. Developing your talents is not a new concept.You can read about it in the scriptures. Hard work is nothing new either. Imagine that?! I am ranting again. Sorry.Well, I need to go. Lexi needs some help with her talk and I need to give her my undivided attention to help her find what she needs to say. It truly is a teaching moment and a process to help her learn how to write her own talk. One thing I forgot to have her do is to pray first. No wonder this is not working out as easily as it should. I always pray before I prepare to teach or speak. ALWAYS.Why?Because you are just the instrument.The Holy Ghost is the true teacher.By praying you open the lines of communication between yourself, the Lord, and the Holy Ghost. Then as you study, ponder, and pray some more, you will be directed to the things the Lord wants you to say in HIS meeting. The key word here is HIS.After all, Sacrament Meeting is all about our Savior Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father. Once you maintain that perspective, the rest is easy, and will come naturally.Don't you just love that?I do. It's awesome!Well, it's time for me to go.Take care and I will talk to you again soon.

AND before I forget....I have been fired as Kyle and Lexi's mother.I have called for their replacement mother to arrive, but it could take several weeks for a new one to be found. LOL!I was listening to the radio and they asked for random parents to call in. When the parents called in they asked them about some of the crazy things they told their children when they were young.One dad said he told his children they were allergic to sugar and they didn't have any candy for the first few years of their lives.One dad said they told their kids when the Ice-Cream Man drove through the neighborhood when the music was playing that meant they were out of ice-cream. Another parent called it the Music truck and that was it. They just came around playing music.BUT the best one was this mother who told the story about being replaced.One little boy called his Mom a mean mother and kept saying he wanted a new Mom.So, she picked up the phone and called the "Mom Squad"to order his replacement Mom.She must have had it all coordinated with her neighborbecause as soon as she got off the phonethere was a knock at the door.(It was the neighbor)When the Mom heard the knock she told her son"Looks like my replacement is here!"And the boy began to cry and said he didn't really mean it and he didn't want a new Mom after all.Ingenious! Don't you think??? Why didn't I think of some of thesewhen my kids were younger?Anyway. When I told my family about the Mean Momthey told me they needed a new Mom too.So, now I have to follow in the footsteps of the Mom on the radioand find their replacement Mom in the hopes that they too will change their minds and not reallywant to replace me after all.LOL!

From the Missionary:

Hey Dad,

Thanks for all your letters and emails. First off, can you send me like everyone's email that you can, so I can write everyone in the family and stuff? Ha Ha. I am so pumped to get to New York though. I can't wait to embrace the cold. Oh, and I think this is just gonna be an email for everyone, just so I don't have to worry about writing two and when I get out to the field I will make sure to write real letters too, because there is just so much I wanna send. Ha Ha

The MTC is awesome! We have our last lesson with Ben, our MTC investigator, that we have been told COULD BE a real investigator or just a member. We have gotten pretty far with helping him see Christ in his life and teaching him the doctrine. I told him that we weren't there to just teach him and that it was up to him to put in the effort and make this something that he wanted. He yelled at me and told me that I could just leave. It was so freaky, but we got it turned around and he started to listen to us and HE PRAYED. It was awesome. He ready some of the Book of Mormon and prayed about it. He said he didn't feel anything but he promised to keep praying about it. We are going to be teaching him the gospel of Jesus Christ and ask him if he will talk to the missionaries in his area because this is our last time teaching him. We want him to be able to keep progressing.

Anyways, at the devotional last Sunday the head of missionary work talked to us and it was awesome. I wanted to share something his wife said. She related life to a piano and how the black keys represent the bad things and the white keys represent the good things. The important thing to remember though is that even the black keys make music. Ha Ha. I just loved that little metaphor. At the devotional Elder Hamulah of the Seventy came and spoke to us. He was the Mission President of Kyle's Mission before he served there. He talked a lot about faith and how without faith, hope is impossible, because there is no want. Sorry, I just keep jumping from topic to topic. I'm just super excited. Ha Ha. Um....tell Kyle he is lame and he will never be as cool as me. And tell Lexi that I didn't cry once. Ha Ha Ha. JK. I cried a lot! Ha Ha. Um, but anyways, I am learning so much and I can't wait to learn more. I will get back on in a bit to talk more, I just have to get my laundry.

Love you all,

Elder Schmidt

This is one of the badges Curtis will wear throughout his mission. LOVE IT! We have Kevin's, Kyle's, Grandpa Schmidt's, and soon Curtis's badge we want to hang up in our home when Curtis comes home. I think that will make a neat memory.Don't you think?

The Church now issues a license to each missionary. They need this in some areas...usually NOT the United States. Kind of cool to see it though.

This is a photo of the district Curtis is in at the MTC. Right in front of the Provo, Temple.Love it!

And the crazy shot of the MTC District....

Care Packages Received while in the MTC.....Breakfast food seems to be the theme so far.

This a photo of a few of the people in the district too.

This is a photo of Curtis and Trevor McLaws! Trevor left from Mesa, AZ. to the MTC before Curtis and will leave the MTC after Curtis. He is learning a new language.Don't they both look happy?I love that about missionaries. The smiles. They just beam.

We love getting letters from our son. He sounds good and he is enjoying every minute of his time at the MTC. Love that! Please know that we will forward letters as needed to everyone. So, if you want to get your email address to us we will send letters as needed.

Also, Elder Hamulah was my Bishop before Kevin and I got married, and my father was his Executive at the time too. Each time I see him he always asks about my parents. He remembers us and always checks up on them which is comforting to know. I'll never forget the last time I saw him. He came to the Dance Festival the Skyline Stake put on. The Dance Festival was on the Football Field at one of the local High Schools, so Elder Hamulah was sitting in the stands with our Stake President. Our Stake President was a little freaked out when I walked up to talk to Elder Hamulah. He was kind of guarding him it seemed. So, the Stake President was put at ease when he realized Elder Hamulah knew who I was. ~smile~smile~